


Behind the Orange Curtain

by IDoNotSleep



Series: The City is Contagious [3]
Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Aged-Up Turtles, F/M, Original Character-centric, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:35:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28181019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IDoNotSleep/pseuds/IDoNotSleep
Summary: In which the Exhausted Author meets with her dream man, Mikey.
Relationships: Michelangelo (TMNT) & Original Female Character(s), Michelangelo (TMNT)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The City is Contagious [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2063859
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	Behind the Orange Curtain

He was, without a shred of doubt, the oddest of her sleeplessness induced daydreams brought to life.

Stef spent long, restless, anxious hours walking around the park in the middle of the night alone. It brought her a kind of peace, when she couldn’t force her brain to shut down. Yes, sleep issues were a big deal, as her mom liked to remind her. As easy as it would be to ask a doctor for medication and therapy to stop her midnight wanderings, therapy was expensive and her salary barely left her enough to buy a coffee once a week. Stef allowed them to happen and knew once she was tingly and chilled she could rest. Granted, she saw sparks behind her eyes by then too and often had issues focusing or thinking, but the amount of drunks in NYC made it easy to blend in, even during the bleakest of hours.

So this green skinned stranger with three fingers and a turtle shell was just another weird creation of her sleepy brain. His voice was chirpy and sweet and warm, eager to chatter and tell her everything. Some days it was a memory from his youth living in the New York City sewers with his father. Sometimes it was a recent happening. Stef found it so easy to relax and get slightly sleepy around him, just enjoying his warmth and presence like a crumbling fire. 

And that’s where she was, sitting on a park bench in the wee hours of the morning, sipping a to-go cocoa and espresso with this character Michaelangelo chatting up and on about his experience with a local pizza joint.

“So there I am, on the corner of Fifth and Broadway, waiting for this pizza guy to show up, and he’s late! I know dad told me I should at least give him a fifteen minute window and all, but it’s my food!”

“You paid for it, he should keep to his promise of ‘thirty minutes from notice’.”

“EXACTLY! Forgiveness is divine but never pay full price for late pizza, am I right?” He grinned--how did he make such animated facial expressions? It was like he was full of life and energy. “So he gets there, ten minutes late, looking around for my address, and I hear him go, ‘fuck!’”

“He couldn’t find it?”

“Yeah! But I was right there! I wasn’t being sneaky or anything, I was just waiting for him to, y’know, look down!”

Stef smiled again. “Sounds counter productive. Couldn’t you have said anything?”

“Well, there’s only so much a guy can do when you’re a turtle, after all.” The golden marks on his arms lit up a little; in the darkness, Stef thought them closer to tiny pools of light. “Anyway, my brother, Donnie, I’ve told you about him? He comes on over, looking frazzled, and the dude is angry as hell and assumes he ordered that late and sent him to an empty street corner! I feel for him.”

“The pizza guy?”

“Donnie! He’s been so busy reading lately and trying to write some kinda paper and he didn’t deserve a rude guy yelling at him over nothing. But he gave Donnie the pizza and stormed off, and Donnie looked so confused.”

“Did you get your pizza?” Stef sipped her cocoa again, sighing as the expresso sank into her soul.

Mikey shrugged a little. “Well... I figured Donnie might want it more, so I let him have it.”

Stef paused mid sip, then gave a secret smile. “I see... You actually bought the pizza for him, didn’t you?”

“Whaaaaaa? No!”

“You said it had pineapple and ham on it, right?”

“Yeah?”

Gotcha. “But you told me last week you think pineapple is nasty.”

He balked. For a second, Stef wondered if he’d try to argue with her about it, or maybe he didn’t know what he said before? But Mikey drooped, then laughed. “Ah, you caught me. I bought it for him.”

She giggled a little. “You’re such a sweet baby brother.”

Mikey laughed, scratching his chin with a dopey embarrassed smile. He really was so cute and sweet, just... what Stef wanted in a man. Maybe that’s why her sleep deprived brain created him. Mikey settled back on the bench again, one arm draped over her side and the other lazing in his lap. “Well, he certainly looked happy and that was the goal.”

"You did it perfectly, but I do think he knew it was meant for him."

"Stupid delivery driver needed to be nice. Humph."

Stef chuckled once again, but found herself yawning into her glove. Behind her, the bells of a nearby church rang five times. Damn, was it already that early? The sun wasn't near rising but Stef knew she needed to head home soon. She stood, finishing her drink and letting out a sleepy sigh.

"Ready for bed?" Michaelangelo asked.

"Indeed. Being out here with you puts my restless mind at ease." She smiled at him. "I haven't slept before sunrise in months."

Mikey stood. Stef was surprised when she first saw how tall he was compared to her. The top of her head barely tucked under his chin. She hummed, musing his height as she leaned into his offered hug.

"Thank you."

"Hmm?" Mikey perched his chin On her hair. "Whatdya mean?"

"For keeping me company. I like spending the night with you." She smiled secretly and tapped his chest and the shell covering it. "Your presence is comforting."

Mikey laughed, but this time it was more nervous than humourous. "Well, ah... That's a new one! I mean, still trying to figure out why you were so cool with me and all!"

She glanced up. "Why would I be? An anthropomorphic turtle who happens to be a ninja isn't the strangest thing I've thought of while having insomnia."

Mikey's hug got loose and his three fingered hands dropped to his side. Stef stepped back and leaned up to smooch his cheek, patting the other afterwards. "You be good now, right? I'll see you soon."

Ah yes, a turtle ninja was certainly her new favorite part of having sleep hallucinations. Even if she did hear him sigh after she left.

Michelangelo grumbled. Three weeks he's been visiting Stef at the park in the middle of the night, talking and making her smile and even getting kisses. Yet still she thought he was a creation of her tired brain. Being a writer must really wear someone down.

But he needed to tell her his thoughts and that he really was real.

"How do I make her see me for real?" He asked the air.


End file.
